Changing starter gears from m20 into s50 starter.

[golde30]

so i accidentaly gave away my m20 starter with my m20 when i sold it, and im planning on running an m20 flywheel/clutch setup. however, i do have the s50 starter still sitting there, so am i correct in assuming i can open up the starter and take out the gear and swap it with an m20 one? and if so, does any1 have an m20 starter gear i can buy?? thanks!

[PiercedE30]

I tried to open one up. I didn't get far. So I just ordered a new one.

[golde30]

^yeah, im having similar exp...soo mad at myself for giving away my m20 starter...

[Bmjpv]

Starter

I took the starters apart,swapped the inners and no go! I think I remember the shaft was too long? Anyway I could not make it work and just installed a new bosch starter so I didn't revisit this again. joe

[BigD]

Why not try swapping the ring gear on the flywheel instead? I'm pretty sure that's all UUC do for their Stage 2 flywheel - take an E34 M5 flywheel and bolt an E36 ring gear on it, and sell for an extra $100. I bought one anyway cause I'm not 100% sure about this, I got 50 bucks off so it was pretty much the same price and they look cool, but if I was rich I'd definitely experiment.

EDIT: Oh, if swapping the starter gear doesn't help because the shaft is too long, then I guess you're SOL...

[Mike B.]

I've got an M20 starter. PM me if you are interested.

[homegrone30]

same here

[PiercedE30]

I would think you could pull the inners out of it and swap just the drive gear and use the M50 starter shaft, but I'm just thinking out loud here.

[matt]

They are interchangable as far as I know. I've used e36 starters on M10s, and I've used e30 starters on e36 lightweight flywheels etc.

[PiercedE30]

Did you change out the starter drive gear?
I know the M42 starter is the same as the M50 starter.

[matt]

No. Count the teeth... I'd be willing to bet all ring gears are the same.

[EtaSport]

They are interchangable as far as I know. I've used e36 starters on M10s, and I've used e30 starters on e36 lightweight flywheels etc.

if you are talking about the complete starter is interchangeable its not. if your saying the parts are, i dunno. never tried, just got the right starter for the job. I can say the m50 starter i had is identical to the m20 one i got (with the exception of the gear). at least on the outside.

[matt]

I'm not asking... I'm telling. I have swapped starters around a million times. Ok maybe 10. Never found a combo that didn't work.

[EtaSport]

the teeth count is different.. at least it was on the m20 and s50/s52 flywheels i had. as well as the starter teeth. i was going to run an m20 flywheel on the s50 flywheel, until i looked at the ring gears and found the teeth were different. i attempted to match the teeth of the m20 starter to the s50 flywheel and they did not match.

[golde30]

^^that is correct. and new m20 starters are like $150. which is why i am tryn to just use the low mileage s50 starter i have...